Preview — Markings
by Dag Hammarskjöld

Markings

Dag Hammarskjold left behind the manuscript of this book to be published after his death. It is a remarkable record of the spiritual life of a man whose public image was universally known and admired — a record that reveals the extent of his commitment to the Way of the Cross.

Hammarskjold himself described the manuscript as a "sort of white book concerning my negotiations

Dag Hammarskjold left behind the manuscript of this book to be published after his death. It is a remarkable record of the spiritual life of a man whose public image was universally known and admired — a record that reveals the extent of his commitment to the Way of the Cross.

Hammarskjold himself described the manuscript as a "sort of white book concerning my negotiations with myself and with God." The first entry is a poem written about 1925; the notes made during the 1940's and 1950's reflect a period of constant spiritual growth, self-questioning, and resolution; and the book ends with a poem he wrote only a few weeks before his death.

In Markings Hammarskjold felt that he gave the only true profile of himself. Lacking as it does any reference to the external world, the book constitutes only haft a portrait, as W. H. Auden points out in his Foreword. But as we read it, the outer image of the Secretary-General persists and heightens the sense of loneliness Hammarskjold conveys, the severity with which he marked his own spiritual conduct and measured the integrity of his soul, his conception of life as a summons, and his premonition of death.

Many will read this book primarily as a unique historical document; many will find in its meditations an unusual devotional book. But, above all, almost every reader is bound to feel, with Auden, that he has had "the privilege of being in contact with a great, good, and lovable man."

For the last couple of months, this small book was what I brought with me to the church when I attended the Sunday masses. My daughter volunteered to man the overhead projector on the 8:30am slot and she had to be there before 8am and stayed for another 30 mins afterwards to shutdown and go out without showing herself to the people as she descended the stairs in front of the altar. So, I read this book only during Sundays for two months and it was quite fitting because the book is a compilationFor the last couple of months, this small book was what I brought with me to the church when I attended the Sunday masses. My daughter volunteered to man the overhead projector on the 8:30am slot and she had to be there before 8am and stayed for another 30 mins afterwards to shutdown and go out without showing herself to the people as she descended the stairs in front of the altar. So, I read this book only during Sundays for two months and it was quite fitting because the book is a compilation of writings, like a personal diary, of Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961), who was a Swedish diplomat, economist and author. He was also the 2nd Secretary-General to the United Nations, served from April 1953 until his death in a mysterious plane crash in September 1961. He was also one of the four people awarded posthumously with the Nobel Peace Prize.

This was his only book.

Varmarken (Markings) is a collection of diary reflections by Hammarskjold and these loose writings were found near his deathbed. My English edition of the book was translated from Swedish and has a foreword by W. H. Auden. It caught my fancy when I was digging through the stacks of second-hand mass paperback because it appeared old and the blurbs at the back said: "A Book of Meditations. A Revealing Spiritual Self-Portrait by One of the Great Peacemakers of Our Times." Prior to reading this book, I did not know anything about Hammarskjold. Maybe because he was a Swedish. Maybe because he died prior to the year I was born. But those words in the blurb properly captured the essence of this wonderful inspirational collection.

But this book made me know him. Even his innermost thoughts. And I liked what I read. There are many thought-provoking quotes, in prose and in poetry forms. He was a statesman but not your usual corrupt or manipulative politician. He was a rich kid (his father was a Prime Minister of Sweden in 1914-1917) but, based on his writings, he was down-to-earth and had a compassionate heart for financially-marginalized people. He was a Swedish (First World, rich country) but he thought of victims of wars, atrocities, famine and pestilence in Third World countries. Days prior to his plane crash in September 1961, he even wrote some very moving poems and they are printed on this book's last few pages.

After reading the book, I have many pages dogeared. I am flipping randomly now just to share with you some:

p.3 "Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was."

p.70 "Is your disgust at your emptiness to be the only life with which you fill it?"

p.88 "During a working day, which is real only in God, the only poetry which can be real to you is the kind which makes you become real under God: only then is the poetry real for you, the art true. You no longer have time for - pastimes."

p.89 "Prayer, crystallized in words, assign a permanent wave length on which the dialogue has to be continued, even when our mind is occupied with other matters."

There was a time when the priest walked down my aisle while I was holding this book. Maybe he was wondering if I was reading a smut inside the church, while waiting for the mass to start or while waiting for my daughter to come out from the projection room. Maybe the good priest recognized the book even if he was younger than me. If he did, well, good for him as well as for many others who have read this book. Well worth the time.

"Reading is never a waste of time," says Roberto Bolano (2666). ...more

Beautiful writing and profound thoughts from the late former secretary-general of the United Nations.

Excerpts:

"Why this desire in all of us that,after we have disappeared, the thoughts of the living shall now and again dwell upon our name? Our name. Anonymous immortality we cannot escape. The consequences of our lives and actions can no more be erased than they can be identified and duly "labelled- to our honour or our shame.'The poor ye have always with you.' The dead too."

"Why is it that wheBeautiful writing and profound thoughts from the late former secretary-general of the United Nations.

Excerpts:

"Why this desire in all of us that,after we have disappeared, the thoughts of the living shall now and again dwell upon our name? Our name. Anonymous immortality we cannot escape. The consequences of our lives and actions can no more be erased than they can be identified and duly "labelled- to our honour or our shame.'The poor ye have always with you.' The dead too."

"Why is it that when I know that someone had a tragic or untimely death, my eyes always encounter what they wrote about death?"

"The longest journeyIs the journey inwards.Of him who has chosen his destiny,Who has started upon his questFor the source of his being(Is there a source?)."

"Is my contact with others anything more than a contact with reflections? Who or what can give me the power to transform the mirror into a doorway?."...more

I began thinking about Dag Hammarskjöld, for no apparent reason, and ordered this book from the library. Then it came, and I discovered it was translated by WH Auden! Now I had an actual reason to read it -- plus I had learned online, that it was a "spiritual autobiography." It's a strange book, published in English in 1964, and apparently forgotten completely. Though it's just as good as Thich Nhat Hanh. (I'm just guessing -- I went for a walk once with Mr. Hanh, but he didn't say anything. ThiI began thinking about Dag Hammarskjöld, for no apparent reason, and ordered this book from the library. Then it came, and I discovered it was translated by WH Auden! Now I had an actual reason to read it -- plus I had learned online, that it was a "spiritual autobiography." It's a strange book, published in English in 1964, and apparently forgotten completely. Though it's just as good as Thich Nhat Hanh. (I'm just guessing -- I went for a walk once with Mr. Hanh, but he didn't say anything. This was at the Ashocan Reservoir.) Nobody wants to read spiritual thoughts by a diplomatic Swede anymore. Spirituality has to be exotic now. Which is sad. Not that I disagree. I find the Christianity in this book cloying, even though it's sincere, and seems mystic:

"He who has surrendered himself to it knows that the Way ends on the Cross -- even when it is leading him through the jubilation of Gennesaret or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem."

The whole suffering and predestination of Christianity -- seems so claustrophobic. Unlike, for example, the infinite multiplicities of Buddhism.

(What is Gennesaret? Wikipedia believes it literally means "a garden of riches." It's a Biblical city in the Galilee.)

Still, here was a guy who struggled mightily to be a saint while being the fucking Secretary-General of the UN! Then died in a mysterious airplane crash! And might have been gay!...more

It is impossible to summarise a book which spans the entirety of a person's life, but perhaps it is possible to discern the themes or issues that this person obsessed over, at least at a personal level. Other people's diaries make for strange reading experience: you are unsure whether you are merely seeing your own obsessions dressed in other people's words, or whether you are really reading them aright. Many things -- a lot of the haikus written in the 2 years before his death, for example -- IIt is impossible to summarise a book which spans the entirety of a person's life, but perhaps it is possible to discern the themes or issues that this person obsessed over, at least at a personal level. Other people's diaries make for strange reading experience: you are unsure whether you are merely seeing your own obsessions dressed in other people's words, or whether you are really reading them aright. Many things -- a lot of the haikus written in the 2 years before his death, for example -- I simply slip by because I don't have a good sense of what he wanted to communicate. So, perhaps it is just my personal lens -- which will surely change as I change -- but my favourite part of Hammarskjold is his deep and never-ending wrestling with the problem of ego, addressing it from various angles through his life. The thoughts are all the more remarkable for having come from a man embedded in the international politics of his day; I cannot imagine any prominent personality today writing such.

I'll just quote here his last thought on the subject before his death in 1961. Written in 1959:

"Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation. To be humble is not to make comparisons. Secure in its reality, the self is neither better nor worse, bigger nor smaller, than anything else in the universe. It *is* (*italicized*) -- is nothing, yet at the same time one with everything. It is in this sense that humility is absolute self-effacement...

...To give to people, works, poetry, art, what the self can contribute, and to take, simply and freely, what belongs to it by reason of its identity. Praise and blame, the winds of success and adversity, blow over such a life without leaving a trace or upsetting its balance. Towards this, so help me, God -- "

A highly respected politico here in the U.S., Dag was a brilliant thinker. Do yourself a favor. Pick up this book. Read through it bit by bit. That is how it is meant to be read. I will NEVER give away my copy.

It would be egomania to say that I feel a lot like Dag Hammarskjold. The scale of personal responsibility I have for the people of my county is a mere grain before the burden Hammarskjold bore for the world. Nevertheless, it's a responsibility I try to own with humility and the right attitude - an attitude based on the belief that every person of means (be they physical, emotional, or mental) has an obligation to take the hardest job and carry the greatest load they can - because there might notIt would be egomania to say that I feel a lot like Dag Hammarskjold. The scale of personal responsibility I have for the people of my county is a mere grain before the burden Hammarskjold bore for the world. Nevertheless, it's a responsibility I try to own with humility and the right attitude - an attitude based on the belief that every person of means (be they physical, emotional, or mental) has an obligation to take the hardest job and carry the greatest load they can - because there might not be anyone else if s/he doesn't.

That's the briefest possible explanation. It doesn't perfectly describe the whole of my attitude and philosophy any more than the same description could describe someone like Dag Hammarskjold. It's phrased in purely ethical dimensions that omit any greater humanistic - dare I say, spiritual - angles.

I'm currently very private about my personal spiritual beliefs. I've let exactly two people begin to understand them and have cultivated amicable misunderstanding among all my family and friends and colleagues for years. It seems to be the best solution to the problem of privacy and the intimacy of philosophy.

While Markings is not a devotional companion to scripture, it can't help but tell you things about yourself the way C.S. Lewis does. And in this capacity I found ways to organize my own philosophy by adding to my understanding of Hammarskjold (a person I have always admired as a public servant). Again - trying to avoid egomania - I was pleased to find so much of my independently arrived at thinking in line with the wiser, better man.

Markings is a "Christian book," but it could probably work for people who identify across a wide spectrum.* Anyone potentially deterred by the ostensible premise should be reassured of its relative objectivity. On the other hand, anyone looking for orthodoxy to boost denominational conviction might feel betrayed by Hammarskjold's equivocations, particularly on the issues of death and suicide.

*When Markings quotes from scripture, it is almost always from the Old Testament. Other religious texts similarly adhere mostly to Old Testament themes, including stuff from the Anglican Psalter and the Common Book of Prayer. When Hammarskjold cites philosophers, they are as like to be Kierkegaard as any of the gospel writers....more

I love this book! On the surface, it's just a collection of one man’s quotes, poetry, reflections, and truths. And yet what makes the book special is who the author was: Dag Hammarskjöld, praised by many, including our own President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century”. He was UN Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize; there has been persistentI love this book! On the surface, it's just a collection of one man’s quotes, poetry, reflections, and truths. And yet what makes the book special is who the author was: Dag Hammarskjöld, praised by many, including our own President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century”. He was UN Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize; there has been persistent speculation the Secretary-General was assassinated.

I bought the book because I kept running across these amazing quotes by him which just made me want to read more. Here are some of my favorites:

“Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.”

“Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions.”

“How can you expect to keep your powers of hearing when you never want to listen? That God should have time for you; you seem to take as much for granted as that you cannot have time for Him.”

“Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness.”

“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.”

“The longest journey is the journey inward.”

“It is nobler to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.”

I had long been aware of this theological work by Hammarskjöld, a 1950s U.N. Secretary General. In the end I floundered through nearly a third of his dense collection of religious epigrams, but found it all a bit too abstract. Which is a shame, especially because it’s translated and introduced by W.H. Auden (Faber and Faber, 1964).

I did love this line, however: “only that can be really yours which is another’s, for only what you have given, be it only in the gratitude of acceptance, is salvagedI had long been aware of this theological work by Hammarskjöld, a 1950s U.N. Secretary General. In the end I floundered through nearly a third of his dense collection of religious epigrams, but found it all a bit too abstract. Which is a shame, especially because it’s translated and introduced by W.H. Auden (Faber and Faber, 1964).

I did love this line, however: “only that can be really yours which is another’s, for only what you have given, be it only in the gratitude of acceptance, is salvaged from the nothing which some day will have been your life.”

It’s not all theoretical ethics, though; when I skimmed through a last section of poems I found “Elegy For My Pet Monkey, Greenback” – the poor creature jumped to grab a coil of rope and managed to hang himself instead....more

Markings is a remarkable book by a remarkable man (with a pain in the butt name to write so I'll just call him Dag).

Dag was the Secretary General of the United Nations. But beyond that he was an intense soul-searching human being and a poet. Markings is his gift to the world. (He died in 1961 in a plane crash while still head of the U.N.)

It's hard to describe a book like Markings. It's simply Dag's poems and thoughts and observations about life and living. It is laid out chronologically but thatMarkings is a remarkable book by a remarkable man (with a pain in the butt name to write so I'll just call him Dag).

Dag was the Secretary General of the United Nations. But beyond that he was an intense soul-searching human being and a poet. Markings is his gift to the world. (He died in 1961 in a plane crash while still head of the U.N.)

It's hard to describe a book like Markings. It's simply Dag's poems and thoughts and observations about life and living. It is laid out chronologically but that makes no difference—everything is astounding.

From 1950 and a poem called "Night is Drawing Nigh":

Only that can be really yours which is another's, for only what you have given, be it only in the gratitude of acceptance, is salvaged from the nothing which some day will have been your life.

From 1951:

There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back.

What Dag writes makes you think. It's not quite over your head but not within easy grasp either.

Excited by the thought of a further sacrifice because life has still not demanded all. Suppose, though, it has already taken all it can use. The wish to give everything is all very fine, provided you have succeeded in so enriching your soul that everything you have to offer is of value. If not—And why so tense? What currents of worldly ambition still course through your striving as a human being?

From the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) file:

Another opportunity was given you—as a favor and as a burden. The question is not: why did it happen this way or where is it going to lead you, or what is the price you will have to pay. It is simply: how are you making use of it.

And death is a bad thing, right? Well, maybe so, but not "little deaths."

You told yourself you would accept the decision of fate. But you lost your nerve when you discovered what this would require of you: then you realized how attached you still were to the world which has made you what you were, but which you would now have to leave behind. It felt like an amputation, a "little death," and you even listened to those voices which insinuated that you were deceiving yourself out of ambition. You will have to give up everything. Why, then, weep at this little death? Take it to you—quickly—with a smile die this death, and become free to go further.

Markings is the human condition writ large. Enlarge your life by reading it.

After reading about Dag Hammarskjold's life in Foster's Streams of Living Water, I picked up Markings hoping to gain insight into Hammarskjold's brilliant mind. Markings may be his journal published, but it is not really a look into the day-to-day life of a Christian UN Secretary General. In fact, it's completely devoid of any references to his life as a powerful public official. Instead, it's a collection of contemplative, philosophical musings on his life. Some of the statements feel like 'halAfter reading about Dag Hammarskjold's life in Foster's Streams of Living Water, I picked up Markings hoping to gain insight into Hammarskjold's brilliant mind. Markings may be his journal published, but it is not really a look into the day-to-day life of a Christian UN Secretary General. In fact, it's completely devoid of any references to his life as a powerful public official. Instead, it's a collection of contemplative, philosophical musings on his life. Some of the statements feel like 'half-thoughts' in that they read as if you have diverted the flow of the middle portion of a stream of thoughts. The reader must sit and simmer on each statement Hammarskjold writes. This is not a read-cover-to-cover book....more

This book was a very difficult read for me. It was not long - and it was not conventionally challenging, but it was written of spiritual struggles that I think would be personally relatable to almost any reader.

Dag Hammarskjöld was a truly remarkable man - and his legacy here is a truly remarkable document. He was not a writer in the traditional sense, and there is no fiction that he left behind, nor was there any substantial non-fiction and little more than a handful of poems. Collected here aThis book was a very difficult read for me. It was not long - and it was not conventionally challenging, but it was written of spiritual struggles that I think would be personally relatable to almost any reader.

Dag Hammarskjöld was a truly remarkable man - and his legacy here is a truly remarkable document. He was not a writer in the traditional sense, and there is no fiction that he left behind, nor was there any substantial non-fiction and little more than a handful of poems. Collected here are his spiritual musings that he recorded across his tumultuous career. They roughly approximate a diary, although never once are real events directly referred to; the document solely concerns Hammarskjöld's internal struggle.

Although Hammarskjöld made a great number of achievements in his lifetime, perhaps his most lasting were the terms he served as UN Secretary General, beginning in 1953 and concluding tragically with his death in 1961. These documents record his monologue right up to and till immediately before this tragic point and concern many of his personal struggles - from a difficulty in satisfactorily serving God to his temptation to commit suicide; as well as his struggles dealing with personal loneliness and constant intense emotionally draining work.

In a world that increasingly looks eastward in popular spiritual philosophy Hammarskjöld may appear painfully unfashionable. He was certainly none among a lama or a yogi or a daoshi - in fact he was rather traditionally Protestant in outlook and makes frequent quotations throughout from the Psalms as well as from Meister Eckhart.

If anything though, it is this protestant outlook which draws me toward the text - because the themes here are universal. I think Hammarskjöld himself was strongly conscious of this as he quotes from Tsze Sze of the Confucian tradition in between a passage from Matthew and comments on Eckhart. Hammarskjöld even notes at the end of his quote: "Tzse Sze, not Eckhart". As if to comment to himself on the universality of Sze's spiritual idea.

I feel in the end that Hammarskjöld exuded spiritual wisdom and guidance in a way rarely seen outside of those who make learning more about the human spirit the core and largest part of their life. It can be difficult reading this to imagine Hammarskjöld to be anything other than a reserved monk - if only it were not for passages such as "In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action." Passages such as these are only too happy to disintegrate any image of Hammarskjöld as a hermetic monastry-dweller, and serve to remind the reader that these writings were put together by a man working sixteen hour days of diplomatic negotiation on a more or less permanent basis.

Hammarskjöld was a very successful man in the traditional societal sense of career and finance and realization of ambition, but he was also rich in the spirit - and it disheartens me that texts such as this are not widely read outside of the hardline Christian tradition. Hammarskjöld's spiritual philosophy is a bitter pill to swallow, but what he explores through the lens of Protestant Christianity is as relevant to the lives of the common man today as any of the Buddhist or Taoist concepts that penetrate the mainstream and are readily absorbed by a willing general public.

I suppose there's a part of me that likes to imagine the common Chinese man on the street has a copy of Markings stowed away in his drawers at home....more

What a really contemplative, thought-provoking and revealing read, in small portions, so that you have time to ponder over and digest all that is packed into each poem or short reflection. It is amazing that Dag Hammarskjold had such a richly introspective life, so full of humility and careful self-examination, despite being the UN Secretary-General. His writing to himself/about himself is inspiringly honest, and the sequential nature of his entries shows his growth personally and spiritually, fWhat a really contemplative, thought-provoking and revealing read, in small portions, so that you have time to ponder over and digest all that is packed into each poem or short reflection. It is amazing that Dag Hammarskjold had such a richly introspective life, so full of humility and careful self-examination, despite being the UN Secretary-General. His writing to himself/about himself is inspiringly honest, and the sequential nature of his entries shows his growth personally and spiritually, from his loneliness, frustration and angst to the very peaceful and centered tone that he gradually develops. This book often left me pondering, and feeling humbled and yet grateful at the same time.

Fascinating and sometimes beautiful quotes.

"Friendship needs no words--it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness."

"We carry our nemesis within us: yesterday's self-admiration is the legitimate father of today's feeling of guilt."

"Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend them."

"The Strait Road--to live for others in order to save one's soul. The Broad--to live for others in order to save one's self-esteem."

"You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds."

"He is one of those who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother. Alone. But loneliness can be a communion."

"The overtones are lost, and what is left are conversations which, in their poverty, cannot hide the lack of real contact. We glide past each other. But why? Why--? We reach out towards the other. In vain--because we have never dared to give ourselves."

"A modest wish: that our doings and dealings may be of a little more significance to life than a man's dinner jacket is to his digestion. Yet not a little of what we describe as our achievement is, in fact, no more than a garment in which, on festive occasions, we seek to hide our nakedness."

"At any rate, your contempt for your fellow human beings does not prevent you, with a well-guarded self-respect, from trying to win their respect."

"Only life can satisfy the demands of life. And this hunger of mine can be satisfied for the simple reason that the nature of life is such that I can realize my individuality by becoming a bridge for others, a stone in the temple of righteousness. Don't be afraid of yourself, live your individuality to the full--but for the good of others. Don't copy others in order to buy fellowship, or make convention your law instead of living the righteousness. To become free and responsible. For this alone was man created, and he who fails to take the Way which could have been his shall be lost eternally."

"Never let success hide its emptiness from you, achievement its nothingness, toil its desolation. And so keep alive the incentive to push on further, that pain in the soul which dreives us beyond ourselves. Whither? That I don't know. That I don't ask to know."

"To be "sociable"--to talk merely because convention forbids silence, to rub against one another in order to create the illusion of intimacy and contact: what an example of la condition humaine. Exhausting, naturally, like any improper use of our spiritual resources. In miniature, one of the many ways in which mankind successfully acts as its own scourge--in the hell of spiritual death."

""Lack of character--" All too easily we confuse a fear of standing up for our beliefs, a tenency to be more influenced by the convictions of others than by our own, or simply a lack of conviction--with the need that the strong and mature feel to give full weight to the arguments of the other side. A game of hide-and-seek: when the Devil wishes to play on our lack of character, he calls it tolerance, and when he wants to stifle our first attempts to learn tolerance, he calls it lack of character."

"Autumn in Lapland. The warm rain-laden east wind rushes down the dried-up river bed. On its banks, yellowing birches tremble in the storm. The opening bars in the great hymn of extinction. Not a hymn to extinction or because of it. Not a hymn in spite of extinction. But a dying which is the hymn."

"The style of conduct which carries weight calls for stubbornness even in an act of concession: you have to be severe with yourself in order to have the right to be gentle with others."

"Maturity: among other things--not to hide one's strength out of fear and, consequently, live below one's best."

"He who has surrendered himself to it knows that the Way ends on the Cross--even when it is leading him through the jubliation of Gennesaret or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem."

"Faulkner: Our final wish is to have scribbled on the wall our "Kilroy was here." The last ditch of the enemy. We can sacrifice ourselves completely to that which is beyond and above us--and still hope that the memory of our choice shall remain tied to our name or, at least, that future generations shall understand why and how we acted. At times it seems to us that the bitterness we feel when we fail at an attempted task lies in this: that our failure will condemn our efforts themselves to oblivion. O contradiction! O last stand! If only the goal can justify the sacrifice, how, then, can you attach a shadow of importance to the question whether or not the memory of your efforts will be associated iwth your name? If you do, is it not all too obvious that you are still being influenced by your actions by that vain dead dream about "posterity"?"

"Thou who art over us, Thou who art one of us, Thou who art-- Also within us, May all see Thee--in me also, May I prepare the way for Thee, May I thank Thee for all that shall fall to my lot, May I also not forget the needs of others, Keep me in Thy love As Thou wouldest that all should be kept in mine.May everything in this my being be directed to Thy gloryAnd may I never despair.For I am under Thy hand,And in Thee is all power and goodness.

Give me a pure heart--that I may see Thee,A humble heart--that I may hear Thee,A heart of love--that I may serve Thee,A heart of faith--that I may abide in Thee."

""For man shall commune with all creatures to his profit, but enjoy God alone." That is why no human being can be a permanent source of happiness to another."

"So, once again, you chose for yourself--and opened the door to chaos. The chaos you become whenever God's hand does not rest upon your head. He who has once been under God's hand, has lost his innocence: only he feels the full explosive force of destruction which is released by a moment's surrender to temptation. But when his attention is directed beyond and above, how strong he is, with the strength of God who is within him because he is in God. Strong and free, because his self no longer exists."

"Your position never gives you the right to command. It only imposes on you the duty of so living your life that others can receive your orders without being humiliated."

"The "great" commitment is so much easier than the ordinary everyday one--and can all too easily shut out our hearts to the latter. A willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice can be associated with, and even produce, a great hardness of heart. ... Concerning the hardness of heart--and its littleness-- Let me read with open eyes the book my days are writing--and learn."

"Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who "forgives" you--out of love--takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice. The price you must pay for your own liberation through another's sacrifice is that you in turn must be willing to liberate in the same way, irrespective of the consequences to yourself."...more

“To separate himself from the society of which he was born a member will lead the revolutionary, not to life but to death, unless, in his very revolt, he is driven by a love of what, seemingly, must be rejected, and therefore, at the profoundest level, remains faithful to that society.”

While it might be universally true that life blossoms in the margins, where society’s confines bend to the anarchic will of some less tameable forces, I think our culture is more than averagely biased towards the“To separate himself from the society of which he was born a member will lead the revolutionary, not to life but to death, unless, in his very revolt, he is driven by a love of what, seemingly, must be rejected, and therefore, at the profoundest level, remains faithful to that society.”

While it might be universally true that life blossoms in the margins, where society’s confines bend to the anarchic will of some less tameable forces, I think our culture is more than averagely biased towards the rebellious outer limits of dialogue and knowledge.

We have grown accustomed in this age to finding wisdom at the margins. Our cultural moment was born with the beatniks in the 1950s, wanderers and addicts who scrawled zen-like diaries across the Western literary canon. Then in the 1960s figures like Martin Luther King spoke of human dignity and the search for justice and truth from a position of political oppression, in constant danger of being silenced or eliminated. And what little has trickled down to us since then has largely derived from Punk’s absolute refusal to conform to the social and economic norms of the 20th century.

In short, gone are the days of Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln, Emerson and T.S. Eliot. We no longer look to society’s leaders for inspiration. It’s as if an inverse relationship existed between Political/Social and Spiritual capital. Considering the way history has soured over the past half-century or so, we might be right.

Contrary to this stands Dag Hammarskjold: UN Secretary General and Christian mystic before the masses knew Thomas Merton. As the new globalized world reconstituted the balance of power after the destruction of World War II, Hammarskjold stood in the center of the matrix of power and recorded this experience as a Christian, as a prophet, and as a human being encountering what man hath wrought in the atomic age. In Markings we have a unique glimpse into the spiritual life of a world political leader in a voice that is profound, honest, severe, compassionate, and faithful in a way that only extreme doubt can forge.

Hammarskjold’s reflections are rendered all the more sanguine by his poetry, palpable loneliness, his occupation, and untimely death in a plane crash. Standing in the center of the vortex of power, Hammarskjold records what I read as the central experience of longing of the human person in a post-modern world:

“So rests the sky against the earth. The dark still tarn in the lap of the forest. As a husband embraces his wife’s body in faithful tenderness, so the bare ground and trees are embraced by the still, high light of the morning.

“I feel an ache of longing to share in this embrace, to be united and absorbed. A longing like carnal desire, but directed towards earth, water, sky, and returned by the whispers of the trees, the fragrance of the soil, the caresses of the wind, the embrace of water and light. Content? No, no, no – but refreshed, rested – while waiting.”

I chose this book as part of my own personal quest to understand the spiritual self. My grandfather recommended it along with Martin Buber and Viktor Frankl as authors worth considering. I have never regretted buying this book with hard-earned money as I continue to open it up and delve into a very personal account of Hammarskjold's struggles for that common ground of spiritual peace. This book was never meant for publication, but a letter was found with it giving permission for its publicationI chose this book as part of my own personal quest to understand the spiritual self. My grandfather recommended it along with Martin Buber and Viktor Frankl as authors worth considering. I have never regretted buying this book with hard-earned money as I continue to open it up and delve into a very personal account of Hammarskjold's struggles for that common ground of spiritual peace. This book was never meant for publication, but a letter was found with it giving permission for its publication as “a sort of white book concerning my negotiations with myself -- and with God." Personally, I love this book because it underscores the possibilities of the human spirit and reminds me to be part of the day's open-ended possibilities. We lose sight of the larger picture, and Hammarskjold never lost that humble vision of being a light in an often dark world. One note -- this was translated from the Swedish, and Hammarskjold spoke many languages, so there are times where quotes that touched him are, in my opinion, oddly translated. Nevertheless, this is a book that I consider to be a bright candle lighting my world and I treasure this book for its wisdom and the reflected wisdom of my grandfather in his choice many years ago for my education. * of note -- I have a different edition than the one I chose for this book as I could not find the 1971 slipcased deluxe edition I cherish. My edition is published by Knopf and is as elegant on the surface as it is inside - a classic and a treasure. ...more

Hammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as secretary-general of the United Nations at the height of the Cold War (and whose death in a plane crash in Africa in 1961 may not have been an accident). Throughout his life he struggled with balancing the tension between the active life and the contemplative life that always faces the political intellectual. This book is his private journal, in which he struggles with a deeply personal and private faith in the context of a vocation that called hHammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as secretary-general of the United Nations at the height of the Cold War (and whose death in a plane crash in Africa in 1961 may not have been an accident). Throughout his life he struggled with balancing the tension between the active life and the contemplative life that always faces the political intellectual. This book is his private journal, in which he struggles with a deeply personal and private faith in the context of a vocation that called him to one of the most visible and influential offices in international politics. That struggle, which emerges in bits and pieces in entries that span nearly four decades, both celebrates life and indulges deep feelings of doubt and isolation.

Markings is far more a work of philosophy than autobiography. Hammarskjold's frend W.H. Auden contributes a moving foreword that supplies a context for Hammarskjold's writing. But as the foreword notes, Hammarskjold does not "make a single direct reference to his career as an international civil servant, to the persons he met, or the historical events of his time in which he played an important role."...more

This is my favorite book of all time. I've used my copy as a journal for nearly 40 years in which to write down quotations from other books and authors which are meaningful to me. Dag Hammarskjold, in speaking to himself, spoke to me in a way no other author ever has. This book is ageless. If you are on a spiritual journey, then this is the book for you, especially if you are only seeing through a glass darkly, as St. Paul as well wrote about.

I'm old enough that I grew up with Dag Hammarskjold in the news on about a weekly basis. He was the second Secretary General of the United Nations at a time that people paid a lot more attention to the United Nations than they do now. He was a genuine figure, sincere, genuinely concerned with world peace, and with humanity in general. A Swede, Hammarskjold was a lifelong practicing Lutheran. His spiritual diary was published as "Markings." "Marking," was translated by WH Auden, the poet, with heI'm old enough that I grew up with Dag Hammarskjold in the news on about a weekly basis. He was the second Secretary General of the United Nations at a time that people paid a lot more attention to the United Nations than they do now. He was a genuine figure, sincere, genuinely concerned with world peace, and with humanity in general. A Swede, Hammarskjold was a lifelong practicing Lutheran. His spiritual diary was published as "Markings." "Marking," was translated by WH Auden, the poet, with help from a Swedish language speaker. Auden wrote the Introduction and notes throughout the book. In my opinion, Auden added a lot to our understanding of "Markings."This book is well worth a look, it is written in aphorisms, so even a brief look is worthwhile. "Markings," is widely quoted and has been read in selections from the pulpit during sermons. It's that kind of book. Hammarskjold died in an aircraft crash in Africa in 1961. ...more

I felt touched by the heartfelt musings of Dag Hammarskjold as he chronicled the spiritual quest of his life. His writings are personal, often brief entries which he never intended to be read by others. The book's entries are sometimes poetry, sometimes prose, and occasionally enigmatic due to their intended audience being only Hammarskjold himself. I will probably pick this book up again whenever I need a "pick me up" or uplifting quote. Here is one of my favorites: "Like the bee, we distill poI felt touched by the heartfelt musings of Dag Hammarskjold as he chronicled the spiritual quest of his life. His writings are personal, often brief entries which he never intended to be read by others. The book's entries are sometimes poetry, sometimes prose, and occasionally enigmatic due to their intended audience being only Hammarskjold himself. I will probably pick this book up again whenever I need a "pick me up" or uplifting quote. Here is one of my favorites: "Like the bee, we distill poson from honey for our self-defense--what happens to the bee if it uses its sting is well known." I find encouragement in Hammarskjold's constant dedication to improving himself. He includes lots of references to Christ and God the Father, and good insight into the Atonement from a man who did not subscribe to any particular religious creed. ...more

Dag Hammerskjold was A Swedish economist, diplomat, and 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations (1951-1963). He was killed in an airplane crash on his way to peace negotiations, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. I remembered his name from my childhood, and picked this old book from a pile at my neighbor's giveaway. It is a collection of his "thoughts"--not a diary but quotes he felt reflected his outlook, original poetry, and insights into the nature of life and faith. ThesDag Hammerskjold was A Swedish economist, diplomat, and 2nd Secretary General of the United Nations (1951-1963). He was killed in an airplane crash on his way to peace negotiations, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. I remembered his name from my childhood, and picked this old book from a pile at my neighbor's giveaway. It is a collection of his "thoughts"--not a diary but quotes he felt reflected his outlook, original poetry, and insights into the nature of life and faith. These reflections ranged from obsessive death worries/desires (as a younger man) to beautiful and touching insights on one's relationship with and duty to God (as he matured). It wasn't a quick or easy read, and was better taken in small doses with time to ponder his ideas in-between. I'm glad I read it....more

this is an in progress reading (like 18months in progress). Its the journal of Dag. A devotional of his spirituality. interesting but as of yet not enlightening

Like a few books here. I started this (as you can see) unimpressed. I heard of the book through Yancy's "The Jesus I never knew" I think. I still don't quite get it why some call it a spiritual classic of the 20th century exactly but its very good. The dude was intelligent and driven.

"Too tired for company You seek a solitude You are toothis is an in progress reading (like 18months in progress). Its the journal of Dag. A devotional of his spirituality. interesting but as of yet not enlightening

Like a few books here. I started this (as you can see) unimpressed. I heard of the book through Yancy's "The Jesus I never knew" I think. I still don't quite get it why some call it a spiritual classic of the 20th century exactly but its very good. The dude was intelligent and driven.

"Too tired for company You seek a solitude You are too tired to fill." -Hammarskjoldor

"To exist for the future of others without being suffocated by their present."

I've had this since 1965, yikes!! The hardcover originally cost $4.95 and my price was on sale for $2.94!! Read it then, again in 1973 and now. Each time I've marked the entries that struck me, some are the same and some have changed. It was translated by Leif Sjoberg and W.H. Auden, now I know who Auden is, hadn't a clue back then! More than just the prices are different. Either Hammarskjold was one incredible actor or his faith and selfless dedication to service are truly remarkable. But alsoI've had this since 1965, yikes!! The hardcover originally cost $4.95 and my price was on sale for $2.94!! Read it then, again in 1973 and now. Each time I've marked the entries that struck me, some are the same and some have changed. It was translated by Leif Sjoberg and W.H. Auden, now I know who Auden is, hadn't a clue back then! More than just the prices are different. Either Hammarskjold was one incredible actor or his faith and selfless dedication to service are truly remarkable. But also an incredibly lonely man. An amazing window into how one public figure chose to see his life and live it....more

This is the gloomiest spiritual journal I've ever read. Dwells a lot on loneliness, death, and is even a little masochistic. Would especially recommend to a person going thru a Christian crisis. It relies much on Biblical quotes and Meister Eckhart quotes. It's also pretty redundant. If he says Faith = God plus Your Soul once more . . . .

That said, it goes quickly and contains some choice words of wisdom. A few extra points for being weirdly different and original.

This is such a great book! It was recommended by a professor of mine who is very poetic and sage. The book contains mostly short passages that the author (Swedish, a former Secretary-General of the United Nations who died in office and posthumous winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) talks a lot about becoming a better person, fighting down your carnal side, service without expectation of reward, humility, and saying yes on your path. It is an inspiring book that I will read again.

I read this because Hammarskjold was rumoured to have 'a thorn in the flesh' and I sought out all manner of books by people afflicted thus when I was very young because I was looking for literary company, the only kind afforded me at the time. It's a sad book by a smart man organizing his mind. It's been said before by a much smarter person than myself on this site that he could have much benefited by having a 'sassy gay friend'.

In the forward, W.H. Auden reminds the reader: "If we read Markings without remembering all the time that it was written by a man who was a great 'worldly' success, we shall fail to grasp the meaning of the sadness and 'unworldliness' of many of the entries". I found this book not one to enjoy, per se, but to provide a perspective of a man who is one of humanity's great peacemakers.

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and author and was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. Hammarskjöld remains the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy called HammarDag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and author and was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously. Hammarskjöld remains the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century.”...more

“When you have reached the point where you no longer expect a response, you will at last be able to give in such a way that the other is able to receive, and be grateful. When Love has matured and, through a dissolution of the self into light, become a radiance, then shall the Lover be liberated from dependence upon the Beloved, and the Beloved also be made perfect by being liberated from the Lover.”
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“You wake from dreams of doom and--for a moment--you know: beyond all the noise and the gestures, the only real thing, love's calm unwavering flame in the half-light of an early dawn.”
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